Alphabet Games
by unicyclehippo
Summary: A series of stories from word prompts to do with our leading ladies - A to Z. Whatever you want.
1. Awareness

**Swan Queen Alphabet**

**A series of little one shots because I get bored and extremely caffeinated. **

A – Awareness

Emma never really paid attention to what she was wearing. She was used to just throwing on whatever was at the front of her closet or the cleanest – unless it was a classy place she had to go to, being a bail bondsperson didn't really call for high fashion. So yeah, she didn't pay much attention to it.

But then there was Regina. Let's face it – the woman was sex in high heels. From her fashion-shoot-ready hair to her figure-hugging dresses and those _suits_ and let's mention those heels a second time because damn…

If Emma was honest with herself, she hadn't stopped checking out the mayor since the first time they'd met. She'd run out of her house – somehow not breaking an ankle in those shoes – wrapped in that perfect grey dress and not a hair out of place despite how worried she had _obviously_ been over Henry. Since that moment, Emma had been under some kind of spell. She didn't speak to Regina until she'd finished checking her out. Up and down, eyes lingering on the dress or blouse or slacks or damn fine fitted waistcoat. Emma couldn't help it.

So yeah, maybe Emma had started thinking a little more about what she wore. Maybe she wore an extra tight pair of jeans that she _knew_ made her ass look fantastic when she had scheduled a meeting with Regina. And maybe she wore that red jacket because it drew attention and she knew that even if Regina hated it – which was doubtful, Emma thought, because of exactly how much of a fuss Regina made about it – it still gave her confidence and a bit of a swagger.

It was one of those careful days when Emma realised what was going on. She'd curled her hair carefully and shrugged into her jacket. She was wearing the tightest, best jeans she owned. Her boots were sexy.

She was crushing on the mayor.

And, if the increasing number of popped buttons on her blouse was any indication, Regina was crushing on her too.

With that in mind, Emma gave her reflection a raunchy wink and strode out of her room. She hopped into her faithful Bug and was at the mayors office only minutes later. Early, she hopped onto Regina's desk and waited.

The brunette strode into her room at five minutes to nine, only slowing slightly when she saw Emma insolently seated on her furniture.

"Can I help you, Miss Swan?"

"Depends," the sheriff answered with a wide grin. She followed Regina's progress with sharp green eyes, grin never faltering. "Were you aware that you are really fucking hot?"

"As crass as always," the woman said with a sniff. She dumped her bag on her desk and turned to face Emma with hands on her hips. "And it took you long enough."

* * *

Regina locked the door but her secretary, coming into the office at ten, decided to leave soon after. Neither of the women had thought to soundproof the room and the noises were…distracting to say the least.

**Let me know what you want to see/what you want me to write. Review or PM or message me on tumblr (unicyclehippo) with a word or sentence prompt. I don't mind doubling up on letters, if you have a really good one btw. Happy reading, readers :)**


	2. Gentleness

**Swan Queen Alphabet**

**I don't own Once Upon A Time.**

**I didn't think these had to be done in alphabetical order because it doesn't really matter and I had this one written. Please enjoy.**

G – Gentleness

Given Regina's ah…_unfortunate_ past, gaining forgiveness from the townsfolk wasn't easy. She hadn't expected that it would be but with no quarter given, it wasn't easy to know where to begin. It was so difficult that Regina had resigned herself to the idea that she was to be an outcast forever more until Emma came up with a suggestion.

The blonde turned up on her doorstep early one Sunday morning and stuttered and mumbled her way through an explanation. "There's, um, there's this thing." Regina allowed the stuttering and mumbling and quintessential _Emma_-ness only because she was curious about the way Emma fiddled with her hands and the hair that peaked out from under the ridiculous woollen beanie. And also because she was fairly sure that they were becoming friends and friends did not slam doors in other friend's faces as much as they might want to.

"What is this _thing_ you refer to, Miss Swan?"

"Emma."

A sigh. "Emma. And should I be interested?"

"You still want to get in the town's good graces, right?" Emma examined Regina's face, checking that it was still her plan. Regina heaved another sigh. Nodded. "Right. Well, there's been a big revival of all things medieval and a lot of the kids want to learn how to ride horses. Only, there aren't all that many adults who know how to ride."

Regina shifted on her feet, banishing those memories of the stable – both old and new. "And what does this have to do with me?"

"I was hoping you would come help out. I know you're good with kids and you love horses so I thought…" Emma shrugged and chuckled, a little awkward. "I just thought it would be a good idea."

"It is," Regina admitted. "For once, you've pulled through."

"Hey," Emma pouted, mock-offended. "Hurtful." She clapped her hands together a second later, smiling. "Okay so you go and get changed into your riding clothes and I'll just help myself real quick to your coffee because my dad woke me up at like four to get ready and I haven't had any."

"You poor thing," Regina said flatly, rolling her eyes. She still stood aside to let Emma inside. "Do what you are so good at and make yourself at home."

"Great, thanks!" Emma strode through to the kitchen and Regina paused.

"Make two thermoses," she ordered the blonde, and was surprised when Emma flawlessly shifted so she could reach into the cupboard to the left and take out the cups. The woman knew where everything was – sugar, creamer, espresso machine – and Regina watched her working with a little surprise that she looked so comfortable in her home and noted there wasn't a trace of animosity at the way the blonde had shoved her way so fully into her life that she knew her coffee order and even where she hid the chocolates behind the kale.

Emma looked up, plucking her way through the fridge. "Regina, what are you doing?" she asked, hands on hips. "Go get dressed!" The darker woman glowered at the blonde – reminding her exactly whose home it was – but hurried away to her bedroom to change.

She ran her hands down her sides, brushing out any wrinkles in her riding clothes before nodding. It would do. It had been, well, a very long time since she'd had any cause to touch this outfit and she was pleased by how well it fit. The riding breeches fitted her snugly and the shirt and vest combination that she had worn so often when she was younger…she thought perhaps while she was dressing that it would bring back bad memories, that it would made her awfully sad to see herself as she had been and it did, a little. But there was also a slight nostalgia, a memory of the almost happy young woman she had been. And sudden mischief, wanting nothing more than to saunter into her kitchen and make Emma Swan choke on her own tongue.

The tapping of Regina's riding boots on the hardwood signalled her readiness as she waited by the front door. Emma ran to join her, two biscuits in one hand and a thermos in the other, the second thermos in the crook of her elbow, and stopped dead in the hall. Her eyes skittered down Regina's form – eyes, boobs, hips, thighs, feet and calves encased in – _oh god, _Emma's eyes seemed to be praying – leather boots to just below her knees and then slowly, slowly, those eyes moved back up her body not missing a millimetre not jumping from place to place just a very slow and very purposeful perusal of the woman in front of her.

"Ready, dear?" Regina asked. Her humour had faded about two seconds in when she realised that she was so far out of her depth and had been dragged unwillingly into the realm of arousal.

"Umm. Yes." Emma tore her eyes away and fled out the front door. She couldn't run far, however, because she was giving Regina a lift and that meant that she just ended up banging her head a few times against the roof of her faithful Bug before Regina caught up. Emma balanced the biscuits on the coffees, handing one to Regina, and swung the passenger door open gallantly for Regina. She raised her eyebrows at the gesture but accepted the coffee, slipping into the car. Emma ran around to the drivers' side and gulped at her coffee before starting Bug.

A few minutes into the drive, Emma cleared her throat. Her fingers drummed on the steering wheel lightly. "So, um, couple of things," she said. "My parents kept demanding to be in charge today because they suck and I had to keep brushing them off so they might not be overly happy."

"Why would they not be in charge? Didn't they organise it?" Regina asked, turning to frown at Emma.

"Not exactly." Emma's hands tightened on the steering wheel and they shifted to ten and two, gripping until her knuckled whitened before relaxing.

"Then who?" But really, Regina already knew from her reaction that Emma had organised the day.

Emma was quiet for some time before she let out a big sigh. "I saw you with Henry once. At the playground. He was having a really great time with you." Regina flushed, angry at the idea that Emma was spying on them – an irrational reaction but she was still susceptible to those. She forced herself to relax. "All the kids were, actually. They really like you." Regina blinked. She hadn't known that. She thought they were scared of the big bad mayor. Evil Queen. "And I thought that if the parents could see that then maybe they would stop glaring at you and whispering and doing shit like spraying graffiti on your garage."

"And what if they simply leave?"

Emma smirked. "They paid for the lessons. Six lessons. They aren't backing out of the lessons now that they've paid."

Regina laughed at that, delighted by the underhand way Emma had. She leant her head against the side of the car, happy to just watch her companion for a moment or two. Truly, she wasn't what Regina had expected of the Saviour. She was crude and sneaky and, well, a woman. She was the furthest from a glamorous, gleaming prince that it was actually sort of endearing.

"Regina? _Regina_." The dark woman blinked, Emma's face leaning towards her. There was a furrow in her brow. "You okay?" Emma's gaze flickered over Regina's face, trying to understand what had made her drift away.

"Of course." Regina realised that they were at the stables already. She must have been thinking for quite some time – a thought that made her blush. She must have been thinking _about Emma_ for quite some time. "Of course. I was just tired."

"Your eyes must be tired from staring at me," Emma mumbled very quietly as she slipped out of the car. She just grinned at Regina when the woman narrowed her eyes.

They walked together, shoulders brushing occasionally, up the path to the stables. "Will you be learning to ride as well?" Regina asked.

Emma's head jerked up from where she had been watching her feet. "Learning to – oh. No. No, I can ride," she said with a nod. "After I got out of the system and after jail but before working as a bounty hunter," she squinted thoughtfully as she tried to work out the order, "I actually worked on a ranch. It was pretty good, food and board and lots of space." There was an echo in her voice that Regina recognised. A sudden bout of nerves made Emma's lips quirk into a half smile. "Exactly what you need after a stint in jail, am I right?" she laughed. "Anyway, it was pretty crap money so when a bounty hunter came through and told me about what she was doing I decided to take that up."

Regina laughed along with her, shaking her head. "Your life sounds like some far-fetched television series, dear."

It only made Emma shrug. "Maybe. Yeah, no, I guess you're right." She bumped her shoulder against Regina's. "What about you? When did you learn to ride?"

"Oh I was very young. My father loved to ride and we have shared that for as long as I can recall."

"You're one of those fancy 'riding before you could walk' people, aren't you?" Emma teased. "Good. Because some of these kids _suck_," she said under her breath, glancing around furtively to make sure no one other than Regina had heard her.

Regina laughed as they rounded a bend and between one step and another, between a drifting gaze and settling her sight on the big stable door, Regina went from happy to panic attack. She froze. Her breath caught in her chest – not neatly, not a small hiccup of a breath, but rather it felt like her lungs suddenly seized and no matter how hard she tried they wouldn't open again.

Emma was by her side in a moment and she reached out slowly. "Regina," she said, soothing, "it's alright. You're okay. You're safe."

Regina nodded.

"It's a panic attack." Another nod. "Okay so you've had them before. I know it's scary and you can't breathe but you have to so how about we just sit here for a bit, okay?" Emma lowered them to the ground and helped Regina manoeuvre so she was sitting on a felled tree. Emma's hand ran up and down her back gently, very gently, and her voice was low and slow. "Just keep breathing, Regina, it's alright. I promise you're safe." Again and again, you're safe; nothing's going to hurt you, I'm right here, just breathe. And eventually Regina's airways loosened and she managed a full breath and she sagged into the body next to her.

She wiped underneath her eyes and let out a shuddering sigh. "Well that was interesting," she drawled, beginning to pull away from Emma's warmth. "I'm sorry," she began, feeling like she owed Emma some kind of apology.

"You don't have to tell me," Emma said when Regina opened her mouth to explain. "If you don't want to, I mean. If you do want to then it's fine but please don't feel like you _have_ to or that you owe me something or anything like that. I know panic attacks suck and I know that sometimes they happen because of no reason or because of one particular reason and I know they're terrifying. And I-"

"Emma, please. Let me." The woman, self-proclaimed Saviour in this moment because this is what this is who she chooses to save, just nodded and relaxed. "While you were in the Enchanted Forest, Dr Whale returned Daniel to me," she said softly. Emma stiffened. "He used one of the hearts in the vault. Put it in Daniel. But he, he ripped Whale's arm off." Sentences came out clipped and harsh and stilted. She pushed on. "He was a monster. He came to the stables. Henry was there. I had to…I had to destroy him. I removed my enchantment. He turned to dust," she said so quietly Emma had to lean in to hear her. "In front of my eyes, he turned to _dust_."

"Regina, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." Emma squeezed her eyes shut. Stupid Emma. "If I'd known I would never have suggested this."

"Please, don't. I have so many good memories of Daniel, of riding with him. It's just…" Regina waved her hand at the building she couldn't quite force herself to look at. "My mother killed him in a stable. I killed him in the stables. I don't think I can go in."

"Okay." Emma brightened. "That's not a problem. I can go in. I can get the tack and you don't have to go in at all." Emma's arm tightened around Regina's shoulders, her hand dipping down Regina's arm to rub lightly in a sweet hug. As she started to pull away, Regina found that her hand shot out to wrap around Emma's wrist.

"Could you…" She shook her head, cutting herself off. Her hand dropped and she began to pull away but Emma just calmly turned her hand so that the hold was reversed.

"Of course."

"I didn't ask you anything yet," the mayor scolded.

"I'll do it. What is it?" Emma's eyes lit up. "Do I get to punch someone? Ooh, can I throw my sword again?" She kept on even when Regina tried to interrupt. "I can drive you somewhere. We can get icecream. Or I can take you back to your place, it's not a problem. I can-"

"Can you just sit with me a little longer?" Regina managed to blurt out when Emma took a breath. She looked away quickly, not annoyed just…flustered, perhaps. And Emma settled back onto the log next to her, warm body flush against hers, and wrapped her arm around Regina's shoulder once more.

**I can't remember if Emma ever really finds out what Regina had to do to Daniel so I wanted to make up for it with this. I hope you liked it! Happy reading, readers :)**


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